...but Bergman was a nazi supporter. Sorry about being blunt, but sometimes bluntness is the only way. Actually he was quite open about that he had supported the nazi regime up until 1946 and viewed the reports of concentration camps as propaganda from the allies. I think he said in some intervue that he cried when he heard that Hitler had died. Later he regretted his support for the nazis.

This does not - in my view - detract anything from the quality of the movies.

The reason I raise this is partly beacuse it is generally omitted even though Bergman was open about it. And I think this omission is part of the view of the nazis as (unhuman) beasts and the Holocaust as a singularly evil event which can only be perpetrated by beasts. If we fail to see why it happened we learn nothing.

There is nothing surprising really in Bergmans support, he came from a middle class european home and in those days supporting the nazis was a common thing among middle class europeans. Not that everyone did it, but it was common. Another young swedish man who was a nazi supporter at the time and went on to become famous was Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA.

I think part of the reason why it is generally omitted is partly because so many were nazi supporters in those days. But there is also the aspect that Bergman admits it freely, but does make retribution the focus of his life. It was stupid, he did it, he went on with his life. Just as millions did. And that might be the hardest part to square with our myths of what the nazis were.

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